美国国家公共电台 NPR For Austria, A Tough Choice On What To Do With Hitler's Birthplace

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST: 

There's a different property dispute in Austria over what to do with the house where Adolf Hitler was born. The question has plagued his home country for decades. It has pitted the government in Vienna that wants the birth house gone against Austrians who say it has historical value. NPR's Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson reports from Austria.

SORAYA SARHADDI NELSON, BYLINE¹: The hometown of the world's most notorious man is Braunau am Inn, a fact most of the residents here would like to forget. Barbara Ebener is editorial director of the local weekly newspaper, BezirksRundschau.

BARBARA EBENER: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: She says, as much as residents don't want to be associated with Adolf Hitler, many here also don't want to see the three-story home in which the fuehrer was born in 1889 torn down.

Among them is Luise Keuschnig. The 87-year-old is outraged² the interior ministry³ would seize the property from its local, elderly owner, Gerlinde Pommer.

LUISE KEUSCHNIG: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: Keuschnig tells me her personal property is her personal property. And the house is part of the town's landscape. The cream-colored building, a short walk from the German border, does blend in with a 17th century facade⁴ of Braunau.

The house is locked up but draws curiosity seekers and, more disturbingly, Neo-Nazis, says interior ministry spokesman Karl-Heinz Grundboeck.

KARL-HEINZ GRUNDBOECK: Because there is a certain mystification for this building under the Nazi⁵ ideology⁶. And therefore, it was very important for the interior ministry to guarantee that nothing would happen there, in this building, that could support Nazi ideology in any way.

NELSON: So the ministry rented the building for the past 44 years. But the government and owner clashed over needed renovations, and the center moved five years ago, Grundboeck says.

GRUNDBOECK: We elaborated a number of concepts and discussed with the private owner how we could again make use of this building. And the discussion became more and more complicated.

NELSON: He says the impasse⁷ led to the ministry's decision to seize the property. Grundboeck says the ministry aims to gut⁸ and rebuild Hitler's birthplace into something unrecognizable.

A parliamentary committee last week approved a draft bill forcing the owner to sell Hitler's birth house to the government. The owner couldn't be reached for comment. Braunau Deputy Mayor Christian⁹ Schilcher says he's talked to her, and she isn't happy.

CHRISTIAN SCHILCHER: (Foreign language spoken).

NELSON: He worries the special seizure¹⁰ bill, which is expected to be approved by the full Parliament next month, will broaden the government's authority to take private property. Other Austrians I interviewed are also uncomfortable with the government's plans but for different reasons. Ilja Sichrovsky is a Jewish resident of Vienna who founded the Muslim Jewish Conference.

ILJA SICHROVSKY: The only solution is, oh, my God, we don't know what to do with it. Let's tear it down. Let's - let's do nothing with it.

NELSON: Sichrovsky says the government should instead turn the Hitler building into an educational landmark¹¹. Soraya Sarhaddi Nelson, NPR News, Vienna.

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 outraged   

a.震惊的，义愤填膺的

参考例句：

• Members of Parliament were outraged by the news of the assassination. 议会议员们被这暗杀的消息激怒了。
• He was outraged by their behavior. 他们的行为使他感到愤慨。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 facade   

n.(建筑物的)正面，临街正面；外表

参考例句：

• The entrance facade consists of a large full height glass door.入口正面有一大型全高度玻璃门。
• If you look carefully,you can see through Bob's facade.如果你仔细观察，你就能看穿鲍勃的外表。

5 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

6 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

7 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

8 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

9 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

10 seizure   

n.没收；占有；抵押

参考例句：

• The seizure of contraband is made by customs.那些走私品是被海关没收的。
• The courts ordered the seizure of all her property.法院下令查封她所有的财产。

11 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。